Summary of my gaming experience finishing Alpha 2 stage 2
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Let us begin!
Account registration, client download and start, character creation and tutorial: Ok.
Environment Difficulty vs. New Character:
I found that for a new character it is very difficult to advance through the areas closest to the starting point. The availability of equipment and skills is not balanced with respect to the NPCs present in the surroundings (I know, it's an alpha test, but this can't happen during the official launch).
Combat Mechanics:
In this aspect the game needs many improvements. As it is a game with isometric view and movement by click, it is impossible to face more than 1 enemy efficiently. The speed of movement and response of the enemies is exaggerated and does not allow strategic combat, especially considering that it is impossible to execute many of the skills without facing the target, making it impossible to kite and attack them simultaneously, especially for ranged characters very vulnerable to melee. This added to the knowledge system and the lack of initial basic control skills makes solo advancing a nightmare.
It is impossible to kiting a melee enemy in a closed area without constantly receiving physical damage, and expanding the kiting area becomes a hell since the aggro generation distance is huge and this leads to having a multitude of enemies chasing you to exhaustion.
The game does not have any evasion or initial dodge skills, therefore it is essential to control the aforementioned aspects regarding enemy mobility and aggro generation range. It is necessary to reduce the aggro area since nowadays it is common to find enemies attracted to attack without being seen on screen. It would also be nice to incorporate a red color effect in the corners of the screen as you approach a nearby enemy to warn.
There are also other problems, interferences during the combat of objects with which you can interact (resources, corpses with loot, etc) which, taken by the hand with the click to move, make everything inefficient. It is necessary to implement the cancellation of the interaction with the environment during the combat and make the tops of the trees translucent in order to see the terrain.
Another topic is terrain relief and field of vision, AFK enemies while being attacked from an elevated area, attacks that do not reach their destination, etc.
Performance:
The game has a relatively stable fps and latency value, but it is not credible when small interruptions in the image flow are noticed during the continuous movement of the character. On the other hand, the response to changes in direction are not always smooth and if the click to move zone is very close to the character, it will get stuck and will not advance.
This type of delays or obstacles in the flow are also noted during the construction processes of the house in which the orders (pick up material, add it, build, etc.) are not always carried out directly and requires a second action for it to complete.
NPC´s:
Its presence and distribution requires a substantial improvement. From deserted areas to crowded congregations in small areas. Also the combination of degrees of difficulty needs to be revised to achieve a correct distribution of groups of enemies of low, medium and high difficulty in a consistent way.
Going from an area with the absolute presence of simple enemies to being 2 steps from an area plagued by much stronger enemies is not optimal, it would be good to have a difficulty gradient that warns the player of what type of area he is entering. The random presence of a powerful enemy is also acceptable, but coming from kill rabbits and suddenly meeting a pack of 4 wolves, a goblin archer and 2 warrior is not a pleasant thing.
The AI of the NPCs needs some improvements, the vast majority have a very basic way of proceeding, detect aggro and run direct to the player's neck, except for those range type, the rest would seem to have a magnet that propels them straight towards our character and without breaks.
Perhaps the incorporation to these characters of some strategic zone/area attacks or movements that give the chance to perform strategic evasion and allow a melee pause in the combat. As a mage, my experience was to be running all the time with a pack of wolfs biting my backs without pause and spamming heals to survive.
Finally, it is necessary to incorporate the option of automatic unidirectional movement guided by clicks for changes of course. The distances to be traveled in an open and constantly exposed world make the traditional system of any isometric game unfeasible in Fractured.
If this is not corrected, many people will be discouraged from playing due to the wear and tear produced in the player's hand. If devs do not correct this, I fear that the number of users that the game can get is gonna be less than expected.
Cheers!.
